Redlake Circus returns with their second full length album “Thelema” early January 2016. Building on the Psychedelic Hard Rock grooves of their first album “Ouroboros” in 2011, this new release expands on the intricate changes and diverse off timing that the band is known for. With the absence of the talented “Ouroboros” drummer Luis C. Iriarte, the band has found a gem in drummer Johannes “Hannimal” Möckel. This man is a monster on drums and brings a dynamic metal edge to the band with heart pounding double bass and fluent seamless fills that will make even seasoned drummers say, “What the hell did he just do there?”“Thelema” is a 12 song LP and, while the album kicks right off into some rocking metallic grooves, it does contain a three part instrumental (Bethel: Enki, Enlil, Anu) that starts light and full of emotion. The song gradually builds and so does the emotion. They let the music speak for itself. It says we are connected to the universe and while the universe is a violent constantly changing place, you can find peace and tranquility if you look deep and long enough. But be careful, because in the flash of a light, things can change beyond recognition.Directly after Bethel is a dropped tune song (Sedlic) that singerSantana seems to be venting. He sounds upset and he’s going to tell you about it. Santana has a unique screaming voice that identifies him. Any work he does throughout his career you’ll know it’s him. But he also has a soft and sweet singing voice that allows you to get in touch with his emotions. It seems he’s been through a lot and when you hear him sing it creates empathy of his feelings. On the other side of that coin is a very intense lion that roars with intensity. These are traits that will follow and identify him well into the future.

Santana: Red is a colour which represents power, love, anger and rage. A pretty passional colour with a lot of emotions in it. When you dream that you are on a lake it depends how the water flows, but it also represents kind of your emotional state and your feelings going and coming through… that's us… humans. We are just ‘feelings, energy, swinging, going back & forth… energy becoming flesh and bones for a short ride'. And the Circus is 'coz we all are multi universals, every head is a universe… We are all crazy on our way. We are living an eternal freak show every day. More or less that's what Redlake Circus means…

You are a really mixed band! Where are you from and where did you met?

Mateo: Mexico, Uruguay and Berlin. We met all in Berlin, as Redlake was coming to tour Europe in 2013.

Santana: We were living in New York and had to come back to Berlin to do some shows, so we needed to find a new bass player, and a good friend of ours, Leo Acosta, a great tattoo artist, got me on the phone with Mateo and we talked about playing together. Since then we just clinched, played Europe, toured Mexico and now here we are writing the new album. Hannes joined us at the end of 2014 when we came back from touring Mexico and our drummer couldn't continue in the band. We are pretty happy with this new line up, the Circus needed this, we are 3 souls totally focused on doing music.

What are the common issues in your songs, what are you writing about?

Santana: The first album "Ouroboros" talks more about dreams, about facing your fears and beating up the demons we all have in our heads, it is a bit more spiritual and metaphorical. This new album "Thelema" is a conceptual album, focused on religion, on different kind of rituals that several religions have done to adore a god. A lot of blood, sex and anger… How much blood would be enough for your gods?

What is your favourite equipment?

Mateo: Each of us is concerned in exploring the full range of sounds, tone, colours and capabilities of our instruments. We use a different means to achieve this: could be pedals, percussions or simple creativity and technic, but we try to deliver a sound out of the average.

Santana: Everything that makes you vibrate. We enjoy experimenting with different kind of rhythms, effects, natural sounds.

Why do you take part in Emergenza?

Mateo: The main reason is that we want to share our music and it’s promotion in a way for us. We just love to make music and the opportunity to share stage with different musicians. Emergenza provides a good platform that allows you to play in good venues with professional support.

Santana: It's all about sharing and taking the best of every moment that comes to you. Playing Emergenza is a good way to get along with some other great bands, staff and people in the Business. Playing this great venues and having this Energy that we had tonight with the audience is just fuckin' amazing. And we just want to do this the whole time. Playing Rock'n'Roll.

Did you bring a lot of friends to the concert?

Santana: As we said before we're pretty new in Berlin, even though we still had a really great crowd supporting us. Every time we play in Berlin is just fuckin' insane. Beautiful and powerful energy every single show here in Germany. Got to say a big “Vielen Fuckin' Dank Berlin”.

Everybody in the Band looks a little bit different, the style, the hair, the dress. Now I understand the thing with the circus!

Mateo: We all come from a different backgrounds and influences, what make us stick together it’s our love for doing music despite of its gender - not being bound to a specific style or gender gives us more freedom to explore a wider range of arrangements and bringing different sounds and moods in to our style.

Santana: It’s just about being yourself, as we said before, every head is a universe and inside of it are different flavours and visions of living this life, this dream. Be yourself and let the others do their shit too.

So what are your roots then?

Mateo: Everyone grew up listening to different things, rock, blues, metal, punk, jazz. We take inspiration from any gender and respect every musician, since you can always learn something new despite music styles.

Santana: We enjoy listening to all kinds of music. Although we play pretty loud, I usually listen a lot to pretty chill music and blues. Again, anything that makes you vibrate works well for me. I grew up listening to Mariachi and Banda (Regional Mexican Music). And we are influenced by life experiences, food, drinks, and movies. Everything is part of you.

Which drugs should be legalised and which should not?

REDLAKE CIRCUS: All of them, the problem is not to legalise or not legalise them. The problem is the way we take them. Everything has their good and evil side. Psychedelics are good to elevate your visions and perception of reality. What the fuck is real?? Who dictates what is bad or good? Do it and enjoy it. Take them when you feel good and not to escape from something but to vitalise an experience.

What do you think about free MP3s in the web?

Mateo: We want the people coming to our shows, so of course we will share some nice tracks for free, it’s promotion as well.

Santana: It’s a great opportunity to share your passion with someone on the other side of the world which some years ago wouldn't be impossible to reach. This is a great advantage we are living these days, but got to say it is NOT a MUST. It’s not about the money shit, it’s about making also awareness of the creativity and effort that all artist put on their projects, to get their stuff out there.

Are you following music-trends in order to get more attraction?

Mateo: We don’t make something for a trend! We want to be honest on the stage, and present the public something more than just a music performance, we want that the crowd feels a part of our show, almost like in a dream, with different elements that pull you in and makes you feel a part of the circus.

Santana: We want to play shows, playing live and having this energy exchange with the audience.

What about a new album?

Mateo: Our new album will be probably released in March! We work on it!